


Our Montimer

by AndrewJohnston



Category: Original Work, The Angel in the Forest (Webcomic)
Genre: Cute, Drama, Family, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Family Issues, Feels, M/M, Romance, Wholesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:54:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23051281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndrewJohnston/pseuds/AndrewJohnston
Summary: Montimer only knew one pivot point in his life; loneliness. But over time, and without his notice, that pivot point changed. Now, he has a real family, one that hugs him instead of shoving him to the sidelines. But the past is a sticky thing, you can never shake it off, and it always comes back. The only thing you can do, is if one day, you face it yourself. For Montimer, that day arrived with glitters and tears. Yet he forgot one, crucial detail...He doesn't need to face things alone anymore.
Relationships: Montimer & Larry & Richie & Ronnie, Montimer (The Angel in the Forest) & Mardequeo (The Angel in the Forest), Montimer (The Angel in the Forest)/ Larry (The Angel in the Forest)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	Our Montimer

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Angel in the Forest](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/565111) by Yinller. 



> Characters belong to Yinller.  
> 'All is Found' belongs to Disney.  
> This story is Modern AU of the webcomic named 'The Angel in the Forest'.  
> Check it out! A worthy read.

Autumn was cold.

So cold in fact, Montimer could feel the fur begging to stand on his back under the layers of clothing. Maybe, _just_ _maybe_ , he should have been smarter and gone out in more than just a shirt and a sweater. Standing on his front porch and shivering when a chill ran up his spine, he struggled with numb fingers to get his cold keys out of their pockets. But he persisted; he was almost home. A few seconds later, he turned the key in the lock and grasped the handle, opening the last obstacle between him and his family. And when the warmth of the house’s interior collided with his cheek, he sighed.

_Finally._

While he closed the front door behind, making sure to lock it twice, something crept up his leg. He looked down, just to see a pair of dark claws clutching his thigh. Tiny eyes peeked at him, small bat-ears twitching subtly when he noticed the little guy. Montimer smiled; it was Richie. He leaned down, gripping his son under the armpits, and raised the small bat from the ground. Richie immediately clutched his turquoise sweater, cuddling into Montimer’s chest so cutely, the older bat almost cooed. With tiny movements, he rocked the small body in his arms, dipping his head to nuzzle Richie. Meanwhile, he didn’t forget _actually_ getting home; he used his right leg to pry off the shoe from the other, then repeated it vice versa.

Richie giggled. “Daddy!”

“Hello to you too, hon,” Montimer whispered as he finally kicked both his shoes into the holder next to the door, “Did you have fun today?”

Richie grunted and shrugged sleepily. “It was ’kay.”

“Just okay?”

“It was pretty, but princesses are lame.”

“PRINCESSES ARE AWESOOOME!”

The sudden shout made both bats jump. Montimer raised his head and saw Ronnie standing at the entrance to their living room in a shining, beautiful blue dress, little as she was. The older bat didn’t know what brought the sudden change in attire until he saw the small crown on top of her head and the sparkles held in her arms.

_Right. They went to the cinema today._

“Princesses are LAME!” Richie defiantly shouted back, to which Ronnie threw the fistful of white sparkles at him. Sadly, this meant that not only was the small bat now coated in glimmering gloss, but Montimer got his fair share of the snowy surprise. Richie growled and leapt out of the older bat’s arms, chasing after the giggling ’princess’, who turned tail and disappeared into the living room.

Montimer was left blinking; even his nose shined.

“Montimer, are you hom- oh,” Larry chose this time to appear, donning a red, V-neck shirt and a kitchen robe around his waist, but stopped when he noticed his bat’s state.

“I… got sparkles everywhere, don’t I?” the bat asked.

Larry giggled, trying to hide it behind the kitchen spoon he held. “Well, you were always our angel in shining armor,” he said as he approached the other. Standing on his toes and licking his thumb, he grasped the bat’s head, then smoothed over the other’s cheek with gentle motions. Being pampered like this, Montimer couldn’t help but avert his eyes from Larry’s, his whole face heating to an almost purple hue.

“There,” the mouse said, kissing his beloved’s nose and stepping back, “You can clean the rest in the kitchen.”

Montimer couldn’t even reply. He was immediately dragged further inside the house, his hand engulfed in the grasp of his darling Larry. Being pulled through the living room, the bat noted the mess; The sofa was coated in all kinds of children’s stuff, an unfinished, pink coloring-book rested on the floor, a spilled over case of pencils occupied the seats, and of course the tubes of sparkles he was very much acquainted with were there too, standing like an army on top of the small table. The shelves were spared as much as they could have been considering everything, only some had these white and blue pieces of cloth material hanging off from them.

It had been Ronnie’s room that day, in other words.

“Sorry for the mess,” Larry said apologetically as they stepped into the kitchen through the other side of the living room.

This place made Montimer scent the air, a pleasant vegetable soup aroma pervading his senses. He quickly noted the cooking casserole steaming on the turned on stove, and he would have lied had he claimed that he didn’t feel his mouth water. After he sat down at the dinner table, Larry closed the door behind them. Only now did the bat notice how pumped up his mouse acted; a wide smile adored his handsome face like it was its default, while he pranced around the table with a small skip in his steps. What sealed the deal was when putting away the unnecessary soup ingredients from the counter, Larry closed the fridge with a cute, little hip check.

As he grabbed a paper towel, Montimer’s eyes crinkled at their corners.

“You seem excited,” he said.

“Hm?” Larry intoned, looking up at his bat with sparkling eyes, “Oh sorry, I _am_ excited. You see, I-”

At that moment, Montimer’s ears twitched. He held a clawed finger to Larry’s mouth, shutting him up effectively. The mouse raised a curious eyebrow, to which the bat motioned towards the closed door with his head. The other’s eyes widened in understanding and nodded.

“So _anyway,_ ” Larry began, raising his voice to obnoxiously loud, directing its flow towards the exit of the kitchen, “I was just thinking that the _kids_ got a little _naughty_ these days. They got a little _nosy_ , so much so that I think we should take away their _dessert_ privileges every time they put their _ears_ where they don’t belong!”

Horrified shrieks echoed from the other side of the door, before two pairs of feet were heard running away.

“Damn, sometimes I envy your bat abilities.”

Montimer just shrugged and nodded to Larry, urging him to continue.

“Okay, so. You know how me and the kids watched that new animated movie? Frozen two?”

“Yeah. Really sorry I couldn’t come, I was just-” Montimer looked down at the already crumpled paper towel in his hands. He cringed at the number of sparkles it showed and was already ripping off another one from the roll.

“ _I_ _know._ Don’t worry, once it comes out in a purchasable form, you will have to watch it with Ronnie. She vowed so,” Larry said, a chuckle enriching his last sentence. He took the crumpled and used towel from his bat’s hands and threw it into the trash bin in the corner.

“And you are excited of this, because…?”

“Not that, silly. You know how these movies are basically musicals too?”

“Yeah. The first one had some good songs. Guessing this one had a fair share too?”

Larry scoffed, crossing his arms. “Did it _ever_? Sometimes I felt like there were more songs than plot. Anyway, not the point. At the very beginning of the movie, there was this flashback of the main characters’ childhood, and it had their mother in it and everything. At the end of _that_ scene, she sang a lullaby and you know what _happened_?”

Montimer’s ears stood straighter in his curiosity. “I’m all ears.”

Larry opened his mouth to reply, but then stopped halfway when his bat’s words manifested in him. He began snickering, which confused the bat further. As Larry’s laugh turned to a beautiful - if not a little mocking chuckle, his eyes were no longer trained on the bat. More like something above him, and Montimer quickly raised his hands, trying to grab whatever was above; yet the only thing he found were his ears.

Then it hit him.

“Oh, _god…_ ”

“Yep,”

“I walked into that one, didn’t I?” he said, laying back in his chair and massaging his face.

“More like ran over,” Larry said as his chuckles finally died down, “But seriously, that lullaby – it actually made Richie fall asleep!”

Montimer sat back up in his chair in a flash, interest in the topic returning anew.

“You mean, something was able to lull him to sleep? Really?” he asked eagerly.

Larry nodded. “Yeah. I asked him after the movie and _get_ _this_ ; he said it just sounded weird but pretty. That’s all.”

“Oh, I’m definitely digging my own grave, but,” Monti began with a sigh, “It’s the ears, really. Us bats can detect a wider range of sounds, some that are either too high or too low for most are clear to us. The lullaby must have neared a border or something.”

Larry leant on the counter and bit his lip. “Yeah, the woman’s voice was very clear and caring. The actress was really giving it all.”

“This is huge Larry! If we learn how to sing or - or hum it at least, Richie will have no more problems with sleeping!”

Larry’s face softened at the rare case of pure elation on Montimer’s features. The dimples at the edges of that dashing smile, the almost upright, long ears, the lively eyes… He remembered the story about the bat’s first friend, a mouse named Ron, and how, after rescuing her from a sticky situation, the bat had been really excited to have helped her. He always tried to imagine how it may have looked, but never could.

Now, he finally saw what she had.

“Yeah, he won’t. Actually, I’ve looked up the song on the web, and…” Larry began, taking out his phone from the thin pocket on his kitchen robe, unlocking its screen and holding out for the bat to take, “Its name is ’All is Found’ and there is a lyrics. We are good.”

Montimer’s face softened and took the device. The screen showed a webpage with a white background, only slim lines of dark text disrupting the whiteness. The lyrics were… not that understandable. To him, at least, he seriously lacked context, most of these lines probably referred to a part of the movie. Oh well, _now_ he would be definitely watching it for more than just making Ronnie happy.

“Have to find the kids now,” Larry’s voice made him look up. The mouse no longer had either spoon in hand or the robe around his waist, exposing his white sweatpants, “Don’t go anywhere, the soup’s finished. I will try to get them to come as soon as possible, but that may take some time. Heh, you know how our kids are.”

Larry leaned down to kiss Montimer’s forehead, which the bat reciprocated all too happily. With a little blush, the mouse left through the door, closing it behind him.

“Ronnie! Richie! Dinner’s ready!” Montimer could still hear Larry’s smooth voice through the door, and the steps as he left.

_You know how our kids are._

The sentence echoed in his head. Or would have echoed, but an echo is consistent, it always comes and leaves with a regular pattern. This echo kinda broke at the ’our kids’ part, Montimer’s mind glooming over these words the same way it had been in these recent days. He didn’t question the fact that Ronnie and Richie were theirs, and only theirs; a fact undisputed is something even he doesn’t worry about. His worries instead focused on another side of the question; sure, he, Larry, the kids, and the people they knew didn’t question these two words together.

But what about the law?

 _Officially_ , Ronnie and Richie were missing orphans, and he and Larry were still teenagers, neither having their high-school diploma. How would any adoption center ever approve of them as fathers? There was no way things would ever work out in their favor, not even in parallel universes.

_Well… that’s not exactly true…_

He knew there _was_ a way; only one phone call to a certain person, and, considering that the person was in a generous and good mood, they could get them a superb lawyer who could help them through this whole process for almost nothing. Money wasn’t the thing he was hesitating for, however – he would literally bankrupt his own existence if it meant that he and Larry could adopt. No, the problem laid on the very first step; calling that person. _That_ person had left a bad taste in his mouth ever since Montimer knew what thinking was and continued to do so for a decade. Willingly calling that person by his own desire would feel like admitting something he was definitely not feeling.

But… when it came down to everything… the gains outweighed the possible losses. For a family, one that embraced instead of shoved him away, he could take out his phone, type in _that_ number, and converse.

All he had to do was _ask_.

He took a deep breath, his chest visibly expanding. His clawed hand took out his own phone from his jeans and was already typing in the numbers he was once forced to memorize ’for emergencies’.

The line beeped…

and beeped…

then cracked.

“… _Montimer?_ ”

He gritted his fangs together, his blood rushing in his veins. “…Mardequeo.”

“ _I did not expect you to call_.”

“And I have something to ask of you.”

No emotions. No delay. To the point.

“... _Alright. What would that be, son?_ ”

He tried really hard to ignore the ’s-word’. He was no son of that man, as he was no father of his. Poor phone, never had it been gripped so fiercely.

“I would like your help in a personal manner,” he said tensely, his heart beating in his throat.

“ _If it is within my power_.”

Montimer clicked his tongue. “Trust me, it is. I want to adopt my children.”

“ _Wha_ -”

“Officially. Will you help me in that?”

The call went silent for some time. Montimer even looked at the screen to confirm that the line did not die.

“... _You are still playing around with mice, aren’t you?_ ”

“Considering how you always showed your love to me, I understand you don’t know what it means. Y _es_ , I am still ’playing around’ with mice, but I want to play around with them legally. ”

“ _You are barely nineteen, Montimer, how can you think of such things already?!_ ”

“I can think of whatever I want whenever I want. I have two beautiful children and I want them to be legally bound to me and Larry.”

“ _Larry… Ah, the mouse you saved, right?_ ”

Montimer didn’t answer. He could never lie to and about Larry. He may have ’saved’ the mouse once, but for the longest time, he himself thought it as nothing but dirty kidnapping. The line was silent once more until Mardequeo’s static sigh came through.

“ _Alright, son. I will help you… on one condition._ ”

“Dad, I’m not doing any of your dirty work anym-”

“ _No-no, that’s nothing like that. I understand that I cannot ask you anymore, nor will I make you do anything ever. It’s different._ ”

Montimer sighed and rested his head on his crossed limbs that laid on the table.

“What is it?” he asked, muffled by his blue-furred arms.

“ _I will get you the best lawyer in the country, if you marry this Larry._ ”

Poor phone. First gripped until it was almost crushed, and now thrown all across the kitchen by a surprised jerk of the hand. Montimer needed a second in his seat to just, _understand_ what was just asked of him. Almost in a robotic manner, he stood up and rounded the table to get his phone.

“Sorry, I’m here. Anyway, _what?!_ ”

“ _Son, you… have the heart of gold, I have come to realize. You are also a big anomaly, as in, you close yourself from most people, shy away from responsibilities and challenges, but when it comes to things you truly believe in, you… become reckless. You don’t know balance, you run headfirst into the first obstacle between you and your goal, and that’s just as admirable as it is dangerous._ ”

Montimer listened, absorbed the words. He didn’t particularly care for what Mardequeo thought of him, but the elder bat was leading up to something big, and he was not about to miss a single detail to it.

“ _Adoption and children… these are bigger than you, Montimer. It was wise of you to ask for my help, I admit that much, and I am happy you finally think ahead some steps. But I guess you knew that already, didn’t you?_ ”

“I… g-guess.”

“ _All I’m asking is that, if you are really serious about this, then at least do your father a favor and settle down beforehand. I don’t want to see you be the happiest bat on earth, but then your heart gets broken and you lose all motivation, and… and…_ ”

How dare this old bastard even assume such rubbish?!

“I will _never_ do that. And I would _never_ leave Larry,”

 _“…I guessed you’d say that. If you truly believe in all that, then please, do the thing that erases all doubts. If you and the mouse are willing to marry, then I am willing to not only help you with everything I have, but even support your union, your family. Even if you wish me out of it…_ ”

Was he… tearing up?

Sure enough, silent, barely recognizable bits of static came through his phone that sounded distinctly like someone crying into something to muffle the sounds.

“…Are you crying?”

“ _Me? N-no, no, I’m fine_ , _I’m… fine,_ ” the tone of the voice said otherwise, “ _So, do we have a deal_?”

Mardequeo was known to be a cold crime boss. Emotions and he lived on different planes of existence. Montimer knew it was just an image, he had seen the elder bat happy just as much as sad, but… over the years, he started viewing his father like he was known for. Maybe because Mardequeo never showed emotions directly toward him, or maybe because after some time, Montimer refused to acknowledge them. But hearing this cold, cruel man with a reputation of the mafia, it shook something in him.

The call was silent, baring the muffled cries of the elder bat. Montimer listened to it, and as much as he tried to deny it; they were there. The proof that his father had a heart. A heart, that asked nothing of him but to not rush into something so dear to his _own_ heart. A selfless desire, and Montimer was just too busy being an angry brat to see it.

“Y-yes, I will… ask Larry to marry me.”

“ _Thank you-_ ”

“And, if you want, maybe I can… _introduce_ you two? If you are up for it, I mean. I know you tend to be busy.”

“… _I can make room in my schedule. Just send me the time and place, okay?_ ”

“Sure… dad. Goodbye.”

He didn’t even wait for Mardequeo’s departing words; he pressed ’End Call’ faster than the first drops of water surfaced from his eyes. He slid down the wall, right until his tail met the cold tiles of the kitchen and hugged his knees to himself. He tried to suppress his bubbling up emotions, but they were already lashing out of their cage. Slowly, but surely, Montimer convulsed in a fetal position, sobs escaping him with none of his trials to stop them working. Tears slid down his cheeks and drenched his fur – soon enough, he could do nothing but sit back and watch his body weep.

He remembered all those times he wanted such simple things as a toy, or a piece of candy, and his father didn’t bat an eye. He remembered all those times he got injured, and his father pushed him onto one of his medic friends, not even waiting for him outside the sickbay. He remembered all those times he had to endure watching his father look so proud at Oliver’s accomplishments, but when _he_ tried to do those, they left him in the dust.

_It’s so unfair..._

“Where the North wind… meets the sea…”

It was not just one voice, but two together. Montimer’s head snapped up, fresh tears spilling from his eyes from the movement. He looked to his right, and saw Ronnie there, tiny hands holding onto his knees while singing in that incredibly adorable, childish voice. Where her hands stayed, his pants got all sparkly again, but he couldn’t find it in himself to be even a little annoyed. Much less that, after pulling back her small hands, the sparkles formed a Ronnie-sized hand-print on the denim.

He watched it speechlessly.

“There’s a river… full of memory…”

He looked to his left; there sat Larry, his beloved, treasured Larry with Richie held in his hands. He cared not about the cold tiles he had to sit on, instead watched Montimer with eyes of so much love, the bat’s own heart beat stronger from that look alone. Larry was the one providing the deeper, more masculine undertones to the flowing music that overpowered his own anguished cries.

“Sleep my darling, safe and sound…”

The droopy-eyed Richie smiled up at him tiredly, extending his stubby arms in his direction. Montimer quickly got the memo, and took him from Larry, engulfing the little bat in an embrace of his own. At the same time, his head was hugged from the left by Ronnie’s small paws, that continued stroking the glistening glimmer into his head fur. Larry’s own arm found its way around his torso, and the bat soon found himself hugged from all sides. His son from the front, his daughter from the right, his beloved from the left, and the wall of his home from the back. Wherever he looked, there was a person looking at him, _just_ at him, and there were no judgement found anywhere.

“For in this river all is found…”

Out of thin air, Larry’s free arm proposed one of Ronnie’s vials, one that held the sparkles. Montimer watched befuddled as the mouse poured the rest of the glimmer onto his own hand, smearing it until the bits of colored, thin plastic all coated his palm and fingers. Then that hand touched Montimer’s clothed chest, leaving the same mark behind as Ronnie did on his knee.

“W-wha…”

The little bat in his lap snored, and Montimer glanced down; the song was truly working. Sadly, that was the least important of his thoughts, because soon he realized that Richie too had his hands coated secretly, and sneaked a paw print onto his sweater. His eyes danced from the print on his stomach, to the print on his knee, to the print on his _heart._

“Our Montimer…” Larry’s voice whispered in his ear, and somewhere on his right, Ronnie giggled the word ’Angel’.

Montimer was tired; yet he let himself smile. He planted a soft kiss on Richie’s head, the little bat nuzzling his sleepy muzzle into the crevice of his father’s neck. Then the older bat dragged his daughter close to do the same to her. Ronnie quickly reciprocated the gesture, not caring that she just kissed a heavily glittered spot. When Montimer turned to Larry, the mouse already dipped down, expecting his own forehead kiss – but instead, a hand raised him back to eye level. Larry’s eyes jumped to meet the other’s teary ones, the bat’s smile giving a new light to the room. The mouse exhaled, taking hold of Montimer’s face and their lips met halfway.

Outside the kitchen’s window, a pair of eyes followed the events take place in the lit-up interior. The figure smiled, already in the middle of dialing someone.

The call went through.

“So I was around the neighbourhood and checked them out. I accept the challenge.”

“ _You sure you know how to get them together?_ ”

The figure snorted, and tightened his tie. “Dad, I have a reputation to hunt difficult cases back in the Uni. They don’t call me ’Hunter’ for nothing. Trust me; by the end of this month, not even the president could pick little bro’s family apart.”

A relieved sigh flowed through the call. “ _That’s good. What should I tell them?_ ”

“Tell them to meet me at my office,” the figure said, taking a last look at the family, “Oliver, out.”


End file.
